Blog – Pittsburgh Watch & Clock Repairs

How Often Does a Watch Need Serviced?

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How Often Does a Watch Need Serviced?

The most common question that consumers ask is “How often should a mechanical watch be serviced?” and who sets this mark?

If you have a valuable timepiece that you cherish, then it is highly recommended to fork out a small fortune every once in 5 years for some quality maintenance work. It’s highly important to give your timepiece to a professional and not some rookie with a couple of years hands-on experience. Most manufacturers will probably tell you 3-5 years is a good time frame for maintenance work.

Some folks who have top quality brands that use ETA movements, such as Rolexes, Breitling or Omegas may run for up to 10 years without any servicing. Why? Because they are well refined and are made out of high-quality production movements that last for years.

If you want to get your mechanical watch serviced, make sure you take it to someone who has an electronic timing machine and can evaluate it for you. A watchmaker professional will check the amplitude and if it’s below 225 on average, then it means your watch requires to be service. It’s very important to use proper tools to check for water resistance.

How will a watchmaker service your timepiece?

Watchmaker will do what they call “overhauling”, which means cleaning, oiling and adjusting. This requires disassembling of the movement and putting it thru a special chemical solution that will help get rid of oil residue and dirt that has been accumulated. After that, special oils will be applied to certain parts of your movement for lubrication and the watch will be put back together.

A good watchmaker will never give a watch back to you the same day, as it will have to be kept in-house for testing to make sure it runs smoothly and strikes the right time. Testing could take up to one week.

How to Change the Chime on a Seth Thomas Antique Clock

Blog / By timeandchime

Seth Thomas Grandfather Clock Repair is something that needs special skill. However, in this article, we are going to show you how to change the chime on a seth thomas antique clock .

Time-and-Chime is a company with over 40 years experience in Seth Thomas grandfather clock repair. Our grandfather clock repair in Pittsburgh PA is .

Seth Thomas Grandfather Clock

The company that manufactured Seth Thomas Grandfather Clock started manufacturing in the year 1813 in Thomaston CT. It is one of the most innovative American-made clocks. The company is reputable for their case clocks and high quality porcelain clocks. They also made various tall case clocks and wood case clocks.

Seth Thomas Antique Clocks have winding systems that control the functioning of the chime. For the chimes of this clock to sound correct, you must make sure you wound the clock regularly. The clock’s mechanisms (inner and outside) enables the clock to function properly, and they work in a synchronized manner that, if any part of the internal mechanism fails to function properly it affects other parts of the clock. On the other hand, any part of the outer mechanism that fails to function properly too may affect the sound of the chimes. Therefore, every part of the clock is very important and must be checked properly for the chimes to function very well.

How To Set the Chimes

Your Seth Thomas Antique Clock should be wound at least once every 7 or 8 days. To do this, look at the back of the clock you will see 3 big holes. The clock winding key should be inserted in the hole that is at the far right. Now, turn the key continuously, keep twisting it until it reaches the end, then remove the key.

Slot the key again into the hole that is at the left and wind to set the chimes to sound on the hour. Now, put the key into the hole that is at the center to set the time correctly. The key should be twisted anticlockwise (counterclockwise) until the time is set correctly. Congratulations! You have succeeded in winding the clock; you can now remove the key.

Speed Up or Slow Down The Clock:

To speed up or slow down the clock, insert the clock winding key into one of the 2 smaller holes. This process also affects the settings of the chime, turning on or turning off the chimes, therefore, ensure to turn the chime on again after doing all the necessary adjustments and winding.

Lost Your Key?

If for any reason you lost your winding key, use another key of the same size with the original key, or go to any professional clock smith to help you wind your clock and produce another key for you.

Time-and-Chime is the perfect place to run to for a solution to any challenge you may face with your clock. We are experts in seth thomas grandfather clock repair, cuckoo clock repair, watch repairs, pocket watch or any kind of timepiece.

Like I said before, …

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Why you shouldn’t fix your watches in Jewelry stores

Blog / By timeandchime

When you want to fix you timepiece or your clock, what’s the first place that comes to your mind? Correct, it’s the Fast-Fix Jewelry store. That’s where you make your first stop to ask if they will fix your watch or your clock. Most of the jewelry store representatives do not know a thing about when a new client brings them a timepiece. It’s totally foreign to them. However, they will almost never say they can’t fix it. They always say to customers “if you’d like to leave your timepiece with us, we can call you after our professional watchmaker estimates the cost of repairs.

Customers fail to understand one thing: their timepiece will be sent to either some sweat shop or estimated by a inexperienced student who may have just completed his watchmaker program online. Plus, when the timepiece is back and the estimate is presented to customer, the mark up on the repair cost will be highly inflated.

It is always suggested to take your timepiece to a real professional with years of experience and proven success. There are not too many specialists out there today, but there are a fair amount of true professionals.

How to Choose a Local Watch Repair Service?

Blog / By timeandchime

When you especially have a quality watch and it stops working correctly, you begin to seek out a local watch repair shop or service that is both reputable and trustworthy.

Your first stop would of course be a local Jewelry shop in your area. You might think that they would know how to fix watches, but more likely, they’d just be able to replace your band or battery. Complex watch repairs are usually not done at the local Jewelry shop. They would most likely recommend that you send them out to a manufacturer, which will in turn cost you a lot of money in the end.

It’s never easy to find a top-notch watch repair shop nowadays. It’s a rarity. However, there are still really good watch repair masters out there and some of them have been doing it all their lives. Sometimes, good jewelry stores may refer you to real professionals who know how to get your watch fixed for the right price.

Professional Craftsmanship

It’s utterly important to know how long the watch repair service has been operating and how extensive their experience. Make sure that you don’t leave your timepiece with some student who has just left a vocational school and just learned the craft.

Word of mouth

A good watchmaker will always be known in the local community. Ask some verifiable Jewelry stores on who can fix your watch and they should be able to recommend someone to you. You may also come across some folks along the way that would be able to give you a website or phone number for a real watch repairman. Customer feedback is always going to be heard and trusted.

Why Antique Watch Repair is Important

Blog / By timeandchime

Every vintage watch will one day stop working and will require professional watchmaker to look at it and possibly repair it. Antique watch repair takes a special watchmaker master to take good care of it.

There are many ways why a watch can shut down at any time. As simple as laying on the beach, and all the sunny rays, sweat and other gunk could get inside of your watch’s mechanism, which would could result in it refusing to work properly. Sometimes, people forget that their watch is not water resistant and they go swimming with it.

Before you turn in your antique watch to a professional for repairs, it’s good practice to photograph the outside casting of your watch. It’s also advised to note down any type of engravings or serial numbers for your own reference. Believe it or not, but there are some unscrupulous watchmakers who can cheat you out of your watch’s parts. It’s important to do some research when choosing your watchmaker professional.

If you have an antique watch and it’s working properly, it’s still very important to service it. Servicing frequency plays a role too.

ONCE A YEAR – Many antique watches have a crown seal and it’s advised to check it at least once a year to make sure it’s preserved properly.
EVERY 2 -3 YEARS- If you have a modern watch, then you should be in luck, because most of them nowadays have special crowns which seal in the internal workings and prevent leakages.
ONCE IN 5 YEARS – Most modern watches, unlike antique ones will last for a long time, as many of them are water resistant and have the seal tightly preserved. The only issue which is important is oiling as watches have small parts which do require lubrication.